Tor on Marathon

Sunday May 28th 2017 I ran the Edinburgh Marathon. Find below my full race coverage plus some tourist impressions.

Edinburgh City
Edinburgh City is all about one thing: Edinburgh Castle! The famous castle that owns the skyline, owns the tourists, owns the TV-broadcasts of it’s renowned Military Tattoo.
Surely, you have the Royal Mile, the Scott Monument as well and a few other spots but I’d say that you can forget Edinburgh as an attractive travel destination if you don’t fare off to the highlands of Scotland or gets yourself intensely drunk at a whiskey distillery somewhere. Both of which this marathon tour did not feature. But the castle is worth a visit, obviously.

Edinburgh Marathon 2017
The Edinburgh Marathon started at 10.00 AM in the morning, the half at 08.00 AM (rather unusually). The race course covered none of the city center and had no ties to the castle; these circumstances were among a number of issues I have with this race as you may read in the report in the links below. The marathon did, however, also sport a few good spots and experiences including Portobello Beach and the nice views over the Firth of Forth. I’ll remember this trip firstly as my first visit to Scotland, secondly for the Edinburgh Castle and thirdly and most importantly for the company of my danish friends Vagn Kirkelund and Bent Brian Andreasen and my “new friends” of the italian group from “Travel Marathon” that were really friendly; nice to meet all of you guys !

See or relive Edinburgh Marathon 2017 here:

Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
愛丁堡馬拉松2017 – 托爾Rønnow的圖片/照片（中國）
エジンバラマラソン2017 – TorのRønnowの映像/写真（日本）
Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
Edinburgh Marathon 2017 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)

For half and full maraton runners few things are as great as when cheering and fun from the audience – friends, family or just spectators – boosts you with energy.

Find below my instructive guide to become the ultimate star on the course sideline. Yay !

Marathon Cheering Guide – (Danish)
Marathon Cheering Guide – (Deutsch)
Marathon Cheering Guide – (English)
馬拉松歡呼指南（中文）
マラソン応援ガイド（日本語）
Marathon Cheering Guide – (Français)
Marathon Cheering Guide – (Italiano)
Marathon Cheering Guide – (Español)
Marathon Cheering Guide – (Nederlandse)
Marathon Cheering Guide – (Svenska)

Sunday April 23th 2017 I completed the ORLEN Warsaw Marathon. Find below my full race coverage plus some tourist impressions from the Polish capital.

Warsaw City
Warsaw City includes the picturesque Old Town – which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list – and a number of beautiful shopping streets such as Krakowskie Przedmiescie and Ulica Nowy Swiat. I did not have time to visit museums during my short stay (arrived Saturday Morning, home Sunday evening after the race), but they are plenty in Warsaw and features both the WWII, Chopin and Copernikus just to mention a few most famous ones. I mostly strolled around in the very pleasant Old Town area, very scenic especially at night time.

ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017
The ORLEN Warsaw Marathon started at 09.00 in the morning at the foot of the impressive PGE Narodowy Stadion. The route carried the runners firstly by the River Vistula, then through the Old Town of Warsaw and later through various suburbs before the turn in a distant park and seeking home – in gusting head winds – towards the finish back at the Stadion. I found the route to be of good variation and with, of course, the Old Town, Krakowskie Przedmiescie and Ulica Nowy Swiat to be the major attractions.

I enjoyed the ORLEN Warsaw Marathon, it is a superbly and very professionally arranged event indeed. It is very clear that it is a generous race with a deep love for both Warsaw and the participants, and it thus not difficult to recommend a trip hereto.

See or relive Warsaw Marathon 2017 here (and in polish):

ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
ORLEN華沙馬拉松2017年 – 托爾Rønnow的圖片/照片（日本）
ORLENワルシャワマラソン2017 – TorのRønnowの映像/写真（日本）
ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
ORLEN Warsaw Marathon 2017 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)

Sunday April 2nd 2017 I ran the magnificient Bratislava Marathon. Find below my full race coverage plus some tourist impressions.

Bratislava City
Bratislava City was everything I hoped for: quite, scenic, just lovable and with that twist of the old Eastern Europe that is so special. Highlights during my very short stay was meeting up with a very old friend and the 7 course beer menu at the top of the UFO with very nice food, top beer brands and extremely good and friendly service by the staff. I’d go back just for that.

Bratislava Marathon 2017
The Bratislava Marathon started at 10.00 in the morning so for once it was possible to eat a full breakfast in the hotel. The day turned out very warm and sunny and the route was flat, varied, scenic and simply just great even given the fact that you had to do two identical rounds for a full marathon. The race was my completion of a marathon in country #30 and thus I became, memorably, member of the elusive Marathon Country Club and a three flag member of the Marathon Globetrotters. I LOVED the scenic route around Bratislava as you may infer from the pictures in the report.

Visiting Bratislava Marathon is very, very highly recommended.

See or relive Bratislava Marathon 2017 here (and in slovak):

Bratislava Marathon 2017 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Bratislava Marathon 2017 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Bratislava Marathon 2017 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
ブラチスラバマラソン2017 – TorのRønnowの写真（日本）
Bratislava Marathon 2017 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Bratislava Marathon 2017 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Bratislava Marathon 2017 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Bratislava Marathon 2017 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
Bratislava Marathon 2017 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)

Sunday March 5th 2017 I ran the Vodafone Malta Marathon. Find below my full race coverage plus some tourist impressions.

Malta: Sliema, Valletta, Mdina and Rabat
Admittedly, I knew very little about Malta prior to this trip. However, one can reach to see quite a lot during just one day of dedicated turisting, and on Malta I got to see the major highlights of Mdina, Rabat, Sliema and Valletta. I found the atmosphere and price level of Malta very accomodating and have for sure gotten taste for more of what this small country has to offer. But take a look at the pictures yourself (click to see larger versions). I guess Mdina and the catacombs in Rabat was the most interesting in terms of History, not to mention St. Paul’s Grotto also. But also just to walk the narrow, impressionistic streets of Sliema and Valletta, especially at nighttime, was very soothing.

Vodafone Malta Marathon 2017
The Malta Marathon started at 07.30 in the morning. The race course took off from Mdina and there was organized bus transport from hours 06.00 from Sliema, however, I took a taxi (hours 06.45) from the hotel after a kind tip from Thomas from Switerzerland thus sleeping an hour more plus reaching the hotel breakfast. The full marathon involves a lot of “running about” in the Mdina area before rejoining the half marathon route and half marathon runners and power walkers (!) towards the finish at Sliema Bay. I think there were many beautiful sights during the race and found it overall to be a great experience!

Visiting Malta Marathon is highly recommended, of course, and I think I will return soon again myself.

See or relive Malta Marathon 2017 here (and in maltese):

Malta Marathon 2017 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Malta Marathon 2017 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Malta Marathon 2017 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
マルタマラソン2017 – TorのRønnow（日本）の写真
Malta Marathon 2017 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Malta Marathon 2017 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Malta Marathon 2017 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Malta Marathon 2017 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
Malta Marathon 2017 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)